Monday, September 05, 2005
Minnesota
Slice of Minnesota (8-31)
We’ve traveled up the middle slice of Minnesota—from Iowa, north to the town of Akeley, which is so small you’ll need a magnifying glass to find it on the map. I loved southern Minnesota. It’s covered with picture book farms—those red rounded barns with lots of out buildings and two huge silos. I wonder if they look like missiles pointed to the heavens to any passing aliens. There’s always trees around these farms and they’re all so tidy. This bit of Minnesota reminds me of Skane (southern Sweden), but with corn and soybeans. Gradually as we move north there are more trees and less corn. Midday yesterday we stopped in the town of New Ulm to see what there was to see. Got a brochure and took the walking tour looking at old homes and such. I found out Wanda Gag (Millions of Cats) was born here. The highlight of the town is a free standing carillon (glockenspiel) which provides quite a show at noon. We had lunch at a good German restaurant. New Ulm is a Bavarian town but not as touristy as Leavenworth. The first campground we looked at yesterday was really awful so we drove a bit further and found a county park which looked nice—BUT it was THE MOST EXPENSIVE public park we have EVER stayed in and actually the 2nd most expensive campground so far on our trip. $28 for a public campground –no pool, no TV, no internet and the bathrooms were not up to par!! Ouch!! Luckily the place we found for tonight is nicer and Cheaper ($18)
Today we traveled north again—into the pines. The weather was cloudy and wet—kind of an Oregon Coast rain. We stopped at a visitor center and very nice museum in Sauk Center—birthplace of Sinclair Lewis and model for his “Main Street”. Not far away are the small towns which are the model for Lake Wobegon. We didn’t have time to seek out the Lake Wobegon trail. We were aiming for the Heartland/ Paul Bunyan bike trails. Akeley was the only place we could find with camping on the trail and quite near the “best part”. We have a campsite with a lake a few feet out the back window. Diesel, by the way, has risen to $2.64. Also the compact little brick prairie towns that I loved have turned into the sprawling towns we’re used to in the northwest.
Good Luck, Bad Luck (9/1)
Good luck—we found this wonderful campsite on a lake and close to the bike trail. Bad luck—we have to leave Friday as everything is booked for Labor Day weekend. Good Luck—we have Thursday for biking. Bad luck—Thursday morning the wind is blowing 20-30mph (white caps on the lake). Good Luck—we have the truck for a driving adventure so head north to Bemidji. Good luck—I found a fabric store. Bad luck—Kit did not find a barber nearby.
Good luck—we found the wonderful state park called Itasca. There we saw the headwaters of the Mississippi, and had a 2 mile hike before heading back to our camp on Crow Wing Lake #11. Good luck—we don’t have to check out before noon, so we had a wonderful bike ride Friday morning. Rode the Heartland Trail AND the top of the Paul Bunyan trail (which was really awesome).
Wood Tick (9/1)
Who would think that in the Tiny Town of Akeley you would find a theater that fills up with 130 people at a 3pm matinee! They come on tour busses from all over Minnesota to hear the Wood Tick Band. Thursday night, when we went, the theater was only half full. What a fun program: really bad Minnesotan humor, really excellent Music. The program was eclectic to say the least with a big dollop of bluegrass. We almost won the prize for the people who had come the farthest—but there were some people from Germany. After the show the band lined up outside and shook everyone’s hands as we left (like the minister after church) and thanked us for coming. It was a memorable evening.
Duluth (9/3-4)
We spent two days being totally tourists in Duluth. Saturday we let Nellie lead us to our first tourist attraction—Glensheen Mansion. We went through some interesting residential neighborhoods and she tried to get us to go down some invisible alleys. Don’t tell Nellie to find the shortest route. On Sunday, I used the map to find our way to the Aquarium.
Back to Saturday—we enjoyed our morning tour of Glensheen. A very tastefully done mansion, I thought. Later I found out there was a murder here (1977) and recklessly spent real money on a quite worthless book about it. After our tour we went into town and found a brewpub for an excellent lunch (and beer). Walked on the waterfront boardwalk and found a wonderful FREE maritime museum that the Corps of Engineers has built. Learned about taconite which is not pronounced like the Mexican food and which is being shipped to China to make steel. (I learned this from a young man in the museum) We couldn’t stay as long as we would have liked as the parking meter was running out.
Sunday we spent the whole morning at the Aquarium, a fascinating and fun place, which was not just about fish. We are learning a lot about the Great Lakes. Had lunch at a bakery/café which would be at home in Eugene or Bellingham. I forgot to mention that we got to watch a Coast Guard ice breaker leaving and later saw a ship come into the harbor. They have this cool 100 year old bridge that lifts up and down. We spent the afternoon touring two ships that are a floating maritime museum. One was an ore cargo ship that seemed huge but was retired because it was built in the 30’s and is now too small. The other was an older Coast Guard ice breaker, which was only recently decommissioned. The cargo ship definitely had better quarters for the crew. (And also posh quarters for VIP’s) We topped off the day in a grocery store with a deli that even surpassed Haggens at home.
NOTE: You cannot buy beer in grocery stores in Minnesota. You can also not buy real mayonnaise—they only have Miracle Whip. But we have not seen any jello salads in Minnesota delis.
We’ve traveled up the middle slice of Minnesota—from Iowa, north to the town of Akeley, which is so small you’ll need a magnifying glass to find it on the map. I loved southern Minnesota. It’s covered with picture book farms—those red rounded barns with lots of out buildings and two huge silos. I wonder if they look like missiles pointed to the heavens to any passing aliens. There’s always trees around these farms and they’re all so tidy. This bit of Minnesota reminds me of Skane (southern Sweden), but with corn and soybeans. Gradually as we move north there are more trees and less corn. Midday yesterday we stopped in the town of New Ulm to see what there was to see. Got a brochure and took the walking tour looking at old homes and such. I found out Wanda Gag (Millions of Cats) was born here. The highlight of the town is a free standing carillon (glockenspiel) which provides quite a show at noon. We had lunch at a good German restaurant. New Ulm is a Bavarian town but not as touristy as Leavenworth. The first campground we looked at yesterday was really awful so we drove a bit further and found a county park which looked nice—BUT it was THE MOST EXPENSIVE public park we have EVER stayed in and actually the 2nd most expensive campground so far on our trip. $28 for a public campground –no pool, no TV, no internet and the bathrooms were not up to par!! Ouch!! Luckily the place we found for tonight is nicer and Cheaper ($18)
Today we traveled north again—into the pines. The weather was cloudy and wet—kind of an Oregon Coast rain. We stopped at a visitor center and very nice museum in Sauk Center—birthplace of Sinclair Lewis and model for his “Main Street”. Not far away are the small towns which are the model for Lake Wobegon. We didn’t have time to seek out the Lake Wobegon trail. We were aiming for the Heartland/ Paul Bunyan bike trails. Akeley was the only place we could find with camping on the trail and quite near the “best part”. We have a campsite with a lake a few feet out the back window. Diesel, by the way, has risen to $2.64. Also the compact little brick prairie towns that I loved have turned into the sprawling towns we’re used to in the northwest.
Good Luck, Bad Luck (9/1)
Good luck—we found this wonderful campsite on a lake and close to the bike trail. Bad luck—we have to leave Friday as everything is booked for Labor Day weekend. Good Luck—we have Thursday for biking. Bad luck—Thursday morning the wind is blowing 20-30mph (white caps on the lake). Good Luck—we have the truck for a driving adventure so head north to Bemidji. Good luck—I found a fabric store. Bad luck—Kit did not find a barber nearby.
Good luck—we found the wonderful state park called Itasca. There we saw the headwaters of the Mississippi, and had a 2 mile hike before heading back to our camp on Crow Wing Lake #11. Good luck—we don’t have to check out before noon, so we had a wonderful bike ride Friday morning. Rode the Heartland Trail AND the top of the Paul Bunyan trail (which was really awesome).
Wood Tick (9/1)
Who would think that in the Tiny Town of Akeley you would find a theater that fills up with 130 people at a 3pm matinee! They come on tour busses from all over Minnesota to hear the Wood Tick Band. Thursday night, when we went, the theater was only half full. What a fun program: really bad Minnesotan humor, really excellent Music. The program was eclectic to say the least with a big dollop of bluegrass. We almost won the prize for the people who had come the farthest—but there were some people from Germany. After the show the band lined up outside and shook everyone’s hands as we left (like the minister after church) and thanked us for coming. It was a memorable evening.
Duluth (9/3-4)
We spent two days being totally tourists in Duluth. Saturday we let Nellie lead us to our first tourist attraction—Glensheen Mansion. We went through some interesting residential neighborhoods and she tried to get us to go down some invisible alleys. Don’t tell Nellie to find the shortest route. On Sunday, I used the map to find our way to the Aquarium.
Back to Saturday—we enjoyed our morning tour of Glensheen. A very tastefully done mansion, I thought. Later I found out there was a murder here (1977) and recklessly spent real money on a quite worthless book about it. After our tour we went into town and found a brewpub for an excellent lunch (and beer). Walked on the waterfront boardwalk and found a wonderful FREE maritime museum that the Corps of Engineers has built. Learned about taconite which is not pronounced like the Mexican food and which is being shipped to China to make steel. (I learned this from a young man in the museum) We couldn’t stay as long as we would have liked as the parking meter was running out.
Sunday we spent the whole morning at the Aquarium, a fascinating and fun place, which was not just about fish. We are learning a lot about the Great Lakes. Had lunch at a bakery/café which would be at home in Eugene or Bellingham. I forgot to mention that we got to watch a Coast Guard ice breaker leaving and later saw a ship come into the harbor. They have this cool 100 year old bridge that lifts up and down. We spent the afternoon touring two ships that are a floating maritime museum. One was an ore cargo ship that seemed huge but was retired because it was built in the 30’s and is now too small. The other was an older Coast Guard ice breaker, which was only recently decommissioned. The cargo ship definitely had better quarters for the crew. (And also posh quarters for VIP’s) We topped off the day in a grocery store with a deli that even surpassed Haggens at home.
NOTE: You cannot buy beer in grocery stores in Minnesota. You can also not buy real mayonnaise—they only have Miracle Whip. But we have not seen any jello salads in Minnesota delis.
# posted by Carol Harma @ 3:44 PM 
